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7 U ITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

SIDNEY B. SMITH AND JOHN H. MCARTHUR, OF WOODLAND, MICHIGAN, ASSIGNORS OF ONE-THIRD TO DANIEL F. ROBERTS, OF SAME PLACE.

HORSESHOE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 359,104,6tated March 8, 1887.

Application filed September 10, 1886. SerialNo. 213,262. (No model.)

To all whom it ma concern:

Be it known that we, SIDNEY B. SMITH and JOHN H. MOARTHUR, both being citizens of the United States, and residing at \Voodland, in the county of Barry and State of Michigan, have invented a new and useful Horseshoe, of which the following is a specification.

Our invention relates to improvements in horseshoes which are designed to be expanded or contracted at pleasure after attachment, to remedy defects in the hoof. Heretofore this has been attempted either by springing or bending the shoe, or by a shoe hinged at the front and expanded at the rear by means of an expanding-screw. The former is objectionable because of danger of breakage and that too little can be accon'iplished, and the latter because the front cannot .be changed at all and the rear can only be expanded.

The object or our invention is to provide a shoe that can be either expanded or contracted at pleasure, the change of form being regular and entirely under control, and one that will expand or contract to any necessary extent; also, one that can be expanded at one part and contracted at another at the same time. These objects we accomplish by the mechanism illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a plan of a horseshoe with our invention applied, and Fig. 2a section on the line 00 ac-ot' Fig. 1.

A represents a horseshoe of any of the usual forms dividedinto two equal parts and slightly separated at the front. These parts are connected near the front and rear by two bars, 13 B, having right and left screw-threads at their respective ends, engaging with corresponding screw-threads in said parts, the middle portion, D, of said bars being adapted to receive a wrench for turning them. One end of each bar may pass loosely through a hole and have a shoulder on the inner and a head on the outer side of the part through which it passes, thus dispensing with one of the screws on said bar, and the location of said bars may be varied as convenience may require.

The operation of our device is obvious. hen applied to the hoof, we can, by turning the screws B, expand or contract the said hoof at either front or rear, or expand one and eontract the other, as occasion may require.

7e are aware that a horseshoe hinged at the front and expanded at the rear by a screw is not new. \Ve do not claim this, broadly.

SIDNEY R. SMlTI-I. JOHN H. MCARTHUR.

Witnesses:

GEO. D. BORDEN, SOLOMON 0. Dow).

\Vhat we claim, and wish to secure, is as fol- 

